Coffee and Caffeine FAQ

In the mid 19th Century, this term appeared in Mark Twain's writing about his experiences mining in the Nevada Territory.
While working on the Virginia City Enterprise, Twain had met a ranch family who befriended him and he became very close to the men in the family. The father, a hard working rancher had three sons who often would want to cut loose after a hard week of chores.
The father, hoping to prevent his sons from getting into too much trouble when they went into town, decided his boys wouldn't listen to his words of warning. He made them rise at dawn on Saturday and work a full day doing the most difficult chores. The sons were usually too worn out to even consider going into town by sun down. His youngest son, decided to out wit his father. Little Joe Cartwright drank alot of coffee on the ranch, the Ponderosa all day Saturday to keep him awake when he went into town to romance the local girls. Twain reported this in The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County in a page that is often left out. He describes how "Little Joe" even fed the frogs coffee to help them jump higher.
This became the origin of "A CUP OF JOE".